Adam Da Ros is a Canadian stage and music director from Dawson Creek, B.C. active in opera and musical theatre. He is on academic staff at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as adjunct instructor and director of the UWM Opera Theatre program. He recently completed two seasons as Resident Artist Stage Director at Minnesota Opera, where he assisted on eight mainstage productions, including two world premieres, as well as directing members of the Resident Artist Program in promotional and outreach activities, including a concert at the National Opera Center in New York City.Adam holds a ...


Born on the auspicious Feast Day of Bach, Handel and Purcell, it was surely fated that Alexander Cappellazzo would immerse himself in music!Starting with Strauss’ Die Fledermaus in 2017, he has since performed roles like Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Acis (Acis & Galatea), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Oronte (Alcina) and many more with companies across Canada including: VOICEBOX: Opera In Concert, Toronto City Opera, Opera By Request, OperOttawa, Nózki Opera, Opéra Queens, Cantabile Chorale, the Ashkenaz Festival, 23 Degree Theatre, the Halifax Summer Opera Festival and ...


2020 Dora Nominee for Outstanding Opera Direction, Amanda Smith, is enamoured by visual storytelling as a platform to explore the psychological impacts of music, colour and movement. Amanda creates stimulating productions that highlight opera’s modern-day potential with collaborations and inspiration from other contemporary art forms, such as new media art, electronic music, contemporary dance and event design.For the past ten years, Amanda’s love of the creative process has led her to exploring the use of devised and collective creation in opera, as a way to empower the performers and ...


Camille Rogers (they/them) has been praised for their “tremendous stage presence” and “real flair for comedy” (Operaramblings).Camille’s “gossamer mezzo-soprano” (Mooney on Theatre) has been described as “even-keeled and grounded even in times of intense physicality” (Schmopera).Opera roles include Suli/Suzie in Buddies in Bad Times’s world premiere of Pomegranate, Lake in FAWN's collectively improvised techno opera Belladonna, Young Girl in The Marriage of Figaro with Opera Atelier, and the title role of L’Italiana in Algeri with MYOpera.Camille has also been featured as a soloist with Pax ...


Erin Bardua is primarily a singer, voice teacher, and stage director. Like many performers, much of Ms. Bardua's most recent work has been on film and online. In 2020, her company Essential Opera produced two operatic films: Mirror, mirror, by Anna Pidgorna; and December, by Monica Pearce. In 2021, Erin created a solo programme of contemporary and original music for unaccompanied voice and voice with flute titled Afterwards-Day, which premiered at Sappyfest: Infinite Variety, a 24-hour streamed performance event. She also played the role of Helen in a hybrid live and streaming production of ...


Idan Cohen was born and raised in Israel, kibbutz Mizra. After being trained as a classical piano player, Cohen received a scholarship to study theatre and fine arts at the "Art Colony", in Israel‘s Negev (desert), and graduated in excellency.At the age of 20 he joined the world known K.C.D.C (founder Yehudit Arnon, artistic director Rami Beer) where he danced for 7 seasons. Cohen holds a BA (2015) and an MFA (2017) in choreography from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.Since 2005, Cohen has been creating, performing and teaching as a choreographer and opera stage director.Since 2017, ...


Isaiah Bell is a Canadian-American tenor, composer, and writer. Recently he combined these disciplines in his critically acclaimed solo show,The Book of My Shames; in the performance on film of his original translation/adaptation of Poulenc’s solo opera La voix humaine (a “finely tuned performance, so perfectly married to his own sensitive and intelligent adaptation” - Opera Canada); and in hybrid concept recitals across Canada. Previously Isaiah starred in the premiere of Rufus Wainwright’s Hadrian at the Canadian Opera Company, and Mark Morris’ production ofCurlew Riverat the Brooklyn ...


Jaclyn Grossman (she/her) is defining what it means to be a portfolio artist. Comfortable in roles both onstage and off, as a soprano, she has been hailed for her “unique voice type” (Opera Canada) and “command over a powerful range of expressive emotion” (The Whole Note). As a Co-Founder of Likht Ensemble, this season Jaclyn will curate and perform in the Shoah Songbook, a concert series with the Harold Green Jewish Theatre, sharing music by Jewish composers from the Holocaust. Likht Ensemble will also perform with the Schulich School of Music’s Alumni Concert Series in the spring of 2022. ...


Jacqueline Ko (she/her) is a multi-award-winning soprano who “knows exactly what to do with an absolutely gorgeous voice” (Review Vancouver). A versatile performance and recording artist whose work spans opera, theatre and film, a few of her notable role credits include Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Angelica in Suor Angelica, Sharon in Terrence McNally's Master Class, Lauretta and La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, and Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte. She has been praised for her “definite aptitude” (Opera Canada) as the founding artistic director of Opera Mariposa, Canada's first fully ...


Born in Linz Austria, Jeannette Aster was brought up and educated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Trained initially as a classical dancer, she obtained her BMus in Voice Performance from McGill University before earning a graduate diploma in Opera Production at the London Opera Centre in London, England. She has since enjoyed an active international career as artistic director, opera consultant, freelance stage director and operalogue.She helped found the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble and in 1980 became its first resident director . In 1986, at the invitation of Peter Hemmings and Placido ...


Of French, Scottish/Irish and Scandinavian ancestry, Julie is astage director, dramaturg, playwright/librettist and multi-instrumentalist. She earned her Master’s degree in Theatre from the University of York (UK) and is also a graduate of Carleton University (Music) and the Canadian College of Performing Arts (Theatre Performance; Playwriting). A four-time Jessie award nominee, she has appeared on stages throughout Western Canada, including productions at the Arts Club, Bard on the Beach, the Belfry, the Citadel, Carousel Theatre, Pacific Theatre, Fugue Theatre, Théâtre la Seizième, Twenty ...


Kyle Briscoe is blazing his trail as a queer interdisciplinary artist focusing on opera performance and his love of pop music. From Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kyle is a prairie boy at heart and achieved a B.Mus. in vocal performance at the Desautles Faculty of Music while studying under Mel Braun. In the Fall of 2023, Kyle began his studies towards an M.Mus in Opera and Voice from McGill University in Montréal. In his short time at the Schulich School of Music, Kyle has performed a recital of Brahms songs as part of Michael McMahon’s song interpretation class, appeared in Opera McGill’s production ...


Kyle is an award-winning poet and voice-over artist, Toronto based actor, operatic bass, writer, digital composer, director, and producer. He’s also the Managing Director for North American Operations at Octant Aerospace Consulting, and the president of his production company, Mightier Productions.


Praised for his “well-projected, heroic baritone” (Opera Canada), Nikkei-Canadian baritone, Luka Kawabata, is a current member of the Yulanda M Faris Young Artists Program at Vancouver Opera. He previously appeared in last year’s digital season as Dmitri in The Music Shop and as Escamillo in Carmen: Up Close and Personal. Luka is an alumnus of Manitoba Opera's Digital Emerging Artist Program and the Banff Centre's 'Opera in the 21st Century' Program.Set to premiere Fall 2021, Luka is set to premiere two self-produced projects centred around his intersectional lived experience: “Paueru-gai” ...


Queer, gender non-binary, and Chinese-Canadian tenor Mike Fan | ??? (they) astonishes audiences with their versatility, passion, and commitment to social justice. Fluent in 7 languages Mike performs in 10 languages across Canada, Finland, Italy, USA, and Australia. As a host, pianist, educator, and actor, Mike brings their quicksilver wit to numerous engagements crossing disciplines, most recently as McGill University’s PGSS/AÉCSUM Equity & Diversity Commissioner and BIPOC Graduate Network founder. Mike is also Founder and Artistic Director of a ground-breaking company Opéra Queens which ...


Sarah Albu is a soprano, experimental vocalist, composer and performance-maker. She is currently based in Tio'tia:ke - Mooniyang (Montréal). Her background in theatre and obsession with science fiction feed quirky and darkly comedic imagined worlds. She has been an invited artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the National Arts Centre of Canada, the Koumaria Residency in Greece, and international series and festivals across the land now known as Canada, Europe, the US and Mexico. An active soloist specializing in new/experimental music, 20th century repertoire and free improvisation, she ...


TenorSpencer McKnighthas been described as “one of the finest tenor voices” in Canada.His voice is described as fresh and brassy with stratospheric high notes. McKnight began singing at the age of 17. He was encouraged to pursue music by an adjudicator who heard him sing at his local music festival. His passion for music finds him frequently immersed in the music of Handel, Rossini, and Britten. Spencer’s garnered much attention both in concert and in competition over the course of the last six years, including multiple awards at a national level, and the 2018 winner of the Gordon C. Wallis ...


Mezzo-soprano Taryn Plater is a versatile performer and creator with a strong investment in the future of opera and civic artistry. With affinities for performance and production, she is active both on and off stage. An advocate for Ukrainian opera and song, Taryn created the digital artist statementFirst Stepsthrough Against the Grain's 2021 National Opera Intensive, exploring her cultural heritage through Ukrainian art song and dance. Taryn is a mentor with Opera InReach, the Founding Aristic Director ofOpera Unbound, and a 2021-2022 Artist Fellow with the Association for Opera in Canada. ...


Nikkei-Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara they/them) is a queer, trans non-binary, interdisciplinary creator-performer based in Tkarón:to. Heralded as "a force of nature" (Toronto Star) and "an artist with extraordinary things to say" (The Globe and Mail) Teiya comes from a background of over a decade of singing both traditional and contemporary operatic roles across North America and Europe such as the Queen of the Night/THE MAGIC FLUTE (Aalto-Essen, Vancouver, Edmonton), Flora Sandes/DEAD EQUAL (Edinburgh) and Fata Morgana/L'AMOUR DES TROIS ORANGES (Aalto-Essen).Appearances this season: S.O.S. ...